Canadian Government Introduces Amendments To Bank Act

The Bank Act and a number of other federal statutes relating to financial institutions must, by law, be reviewed every five years. As a result, the Bank Act review process must be completed by April 20, 2012 (the current statutory sunset date). As part of this five-year review process, the Canadian federal government launched its five-year review of legislation governing federally regulated financial institutions on September 20, 2010. This review process has culminated in Bill S-5 (the Bill) which is entitled the Financial System Review Act (the FSRA).The Bill had first reading in the Senate on November 23, 2011, and requires second and third readings in the Senate, first through third readings in the House of Commons and then Royal Assent before the FSRA can come into effect.